Lack of a quorum prevented adoption of the platform during the state convention.
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Democrats succeeded in electing a new chairman at their state convention a few weeks ago in Dallas, but they left the annual gathering without a formal platform because they lacked a quorum.
Many participants left after the re-election of Chairman Gilbert Hinojos, a lengthy vote that required two rounds. Hinojosa says they had to check out of hotels, catch a flight or go home.
And so far it doesn’t bother him.
“In the time that I’ve been chairman for the last ten years, there have been very, very few changes made to the platform by the convention,” Hinojosa said at Inside Texas Politics. “They are looking at the platform. They are 99% satisfied with what they have, as reported by these two committees that have already met. And they accept almost unanimously.”
Hinojosa says they are now deciding how they will approve a platform that represents the party’s goals, principles and strategies used by candidates and members.
“I think it would be very difficult and cumbersome to try to reconvene all the delegates using Zoom. And I’m not sure it will work. I think we will do it through the executive committee and for the executive committee to adopt the platform,” he told us.
And as we approach the November election, attention is beginning to focus on South Texas, where Republicans have made a number of recent gains.
Hinojosa says national Democrats take this area just as seriously as national Republicans.
“The Democratic National Committee provides funding to the state of Texas to do things like voter registration. The amount of money they have invested in the Texas Democratic Party is unprecedented in Texas to help us put together a massive voter registration program in the state of Texas,” the chairman said.
Hinojosa first served as chairman of the Texas Democratic Party in 2012.
